pecies of
lilies. After the waste of misshaped lumps of limestone and volcanic
looking boulders, which were the only decoration of the Western
Desert, this sort of landscape seemed positively verdant.

At El Arish we were camped some three miles from the station, and a
very long three miles it seemed, as a large part of the way was over
the softest of sand and most exhausting marching, especially with a
heavy pack. Here we had our first sight of hostile aeroplanes, some of
which came over nearly every day; it was a very pretty sight to see
them in the brilliant blue at about 12,000 feet, with the white puffs
of shrapnel bursting now on one side of them now on the other (but
seldom very close). We were at once set to dig ourselves funkholes,
which we were supposed to occupy on the alarm being given, but they
never once bombed us, or seemed to take any notice of us. They made
one or two bold individual attacks on the railway, between Kantara and
El Arish, but for the most part they appeared to be out purely for
reconnaissance.

At El Ferdan we had got our first infantry reinforcements--11 new
officers--and now we received a welcome addition in the shape of 1
officer and 373 other ranks, which necessitated the reorganisation of
the battalion. We also had to acclimatise the new draft who felt the
heat and heavy going very exhausting, and, to begin with, had to go
easy.

Our camp was pleasantly situated on a sandy plain, within half a mile
of the sea, and dotted with scattered fig-trees just beginning to show
a few leaves. The climate was perfect, but the water arrangements were
most difficult. We began to realise that it does not pay to be the
last comer when there is a shortage of anything. We were paid off with
the minimum number of fanatis (copper vessels for carrying water on
camel pack), and, instead of getting allotted to us the wells nearest
our camp, we had just to take whatever wells were left. These proved
to be on the other side of El Arish village, in amongst the steepest
sandhills, and it was a very tough tramp for the fatigue party, which
had to accompany the water camels and do the pumping. Our stay here
was just inside a fortnight, before the end of which we had got our
new drafts allotted to their various companies; and a very good lot
they were, though we feared they would have great difficulty in
standing the heat if we were called upon to do long marches.

On 22nd March we started on our way to our